Odds stacked against India

India are sitting on a knife's edge and the pressure is slowly beginning to reveal itself on the players. They still have a slight chance for qualifying for the finals and for that the first thing needed is a win over Sri Lanka with a bonus point. In addition to this, their fate will depend on the Sri Lanka - Australia tie. Sri Lanka need just one more win to go through. They will also be assured of a spot in the final if they do not concede a bonus point against India.

For India to gain a bonus point, they will have to score at a rate that is 1.25 times what Sri Lanka do.

For example, if Sri Lanka bat first and score 250 in the fifty overs i.e a run rate of 5 then India will need to chase it down in 40 overs to gain a bonus point. Conversely if India bat first and make 250, Sri Lanka will have to be restricted to under 200. It is not an easy task at all for a team that has been struggling with various problems. It is for the same reason that Sri Lanka start as firm favourites.

Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka, under Mahela Jayawardene, have shown tremendous resilience so far in the tournament. They began the tournament slowly. Their first win came in only their fourth match but have peaked gradually since then to a good position. The skipper himself has been in sublime touch and his confidence is surely rubbing off on the team. The move to open the batting seems to have done wonders to his confidence. Dinesh Chandimal has been the pillar of the middle order. The young right hander has shown a lot of stomach for a fight and his 80 in Sri Lanka's win against Australia in their previous game drew effusive praise from both skippers. Kumar Sangakkara has been conspicuous by his absence especially with Sri Lanka doing so well. His highest score so far in the tournament has been just 31 and the classy left hander will be desperate to make amends going into the business end of the tournament.

In Thisara Perera, Angelo Mathews and Farveez Maharoof, Sri Lanka have three all-rounders well suited for the conditions in Australia and thus add a lot of balance to the squad.

The bowling too has a well-rounded look to it. Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulaekara, Rangana Herath and the part time off breaks of Tilakaratne Dilshan pose varying challenges for the opposition.

The fielding too has been above par throughout and has been one of the key factors for Sri Lanka turning things around in the tournament. Mahela will be pushing his men to maintain the same intensity against India too to go through to the finals.

India:

The tour has gone from bad to worse for India. The comments of the skipper MS Dhoni has been hogging headlines after the Sydney ODI against Australia. India feel strongly that they have been short changed in many umpiring decisions. This has shifted focus from their various on-field shortcomings.

Foremost amongst them has been the abysmal performance of their batsmen. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag have not been able to produce even one knock of significance between them. Virat Kohli managed a couple of impressive fifties but has been below par otherwise. The same holds true for Gautam Gambhir too. Suresh Raina falls under the same category of Sehwag and Tendulkar. With such collective failure in batting, it is no wonder that India find themselves languishing at the bottom of the table. They still have a slender chance of qualifying but a lot will depend on whether the batsmen can turn things around overnight.

The raw bowling attack has shown some good signs and have bowled well in phases throughout the series. In the absence of Zaheer Khan though, there is a distinct lack of leadership. Only Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan have played in ODIs before in Australia and both are battling indifferent form.

The youngsters though have shown that they can do well with more experience. R Ashwin and Umesh Yadav have been the most impressive amongst the group and India will do well to persist with them for a longer period.

Quotes:

You never know. I've played against him on so many occasions, he's produced some brilliant individual performances - Mahela Jayawardene on the threat Sachin Tendulkar poses.

That would be saying I am very optimistic, seeing that we have not consistently done well with the bat, which means whatever the opposition scores we will have to score in 40 overs, which will be a very difficult task - MS Dhoni on India bagging a bonus point.